Comradeship In Stephen Crane's The Open Boat

The Open Boat In “The Open Boat” story, the author Stephen Crane, tells the story of four men based on his own life experience. In this story, the four men took a small boat after their ship sank to reach the shore. The captain is hurt and the other three men were not experienced to do his job. They were struggling to find the way out because there is nobody who can help them not even nature that making their journey more challenging. They spent many sleepless nights in a tiny boat without food. This situation brings them closer to each other which develops the feeling of comradeship. At the end, they reached the shore with the help of solidarity but lost one of them. They experienced a struggle against nature but realized that

Nature did not care if these men live or not. One of them named Billie drowned at the end of the story. He was the hardworking man from the whole crew. But nature seems very indifferent to him and for his struggle. According to the narrator, “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important” (Sec 6); this quote shows nature does not give any importance to people. The men cannot say anything about the next move of nature. When one man asks the captain if they will make it, but the captain said it depends on the wind. This makes them feel weak and insignificant. As narrator says, “He at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples." (Sec 6). The correspondent feels helpless in this situation where he does not have control of things. He wants to fight with nature, but there is nothing he can use against nature. Nature is not a temple which can see and throw bricks at it. Furthermore, the captain says that “If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods, who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?" (Sec 6). They are struggling to survive but their chances are very low. Nature did not show any concern for human and his

It also gives them comfort and power to tolerate nature. The narrator states, “He wished one of his companions to awaken by chance and keep him company with it” (Sec 5). When the correspondent is awake at night and sees a shark, he wishes one of them would wake up and could help him to get over this situation. Although he knew it would not help him get saved from a shark attack, but rather he would gain a comforting feeling to have someone with him. They understand the importance of each other in their struggle. The captain remains calm and tries to cheer his crew without showing his worries to reach the shore. As narrator says, “captain soothes his crew” (Sec 2). He gave them hope to get the shore, even though he was not sure about it but showed them positivity to move on. They recognize the value of humanity to overcome all the obstacles. They were helping each other to get out. Captain says, "We might try my overcoat on the end of an oar and give you two boys a chance to rest."(Sec 3). Captain used his overcoat which helps them to take some rest. While in the water, the captain instructs the cook, correspondent, and the oiler move carefully. The men realize that they have to work together to come out this situation. At the end of the story when the man on the shore came to help the captain, he directs him towards the correspondent who